The invention relates to the making and processing of tablet-shaped, pill-shaped and like or analogous discrete products (hereinafter called pills for short). More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods of and in apparatus for conveying and storing pills preparatory to introduction into bottles, vials, boxes or other types of containers.
It is customary to temporarily store pills between one or more making or producing machines and one or more packing or packaging machine or machines. The arrangement is frequently such that the making machine or machines are located at a higher or upper first level and that the storing facility or facilities for pills are located at a lower or second level. This renders it possible to transport the pills to the receptacle or receptacles of the storing facility or facilities by gravity feed. A drawback of presently known methods and apparatus for conveying pills by gravity feed is that the pills which descend onto a bottom wall or onto the previously conveyed pills are likely to be damaged and/or to damage the previously conveyed pills so that a relatively high percentage of pills which have been put to storage must be segregated and discarded because they are not fit for packaging and sale to customers, retailers or wholesalers. Attempts to avoid or reduce the damage to pills which are conveyed by gravity feed include the utilization of complex and expensive transporting devices, e.g., in the form of spiral chutes. This contributes to the cost of manipulation of pills downstream of the making machine or machines. Moreover, spiral chutes and like complex transporting devices occupy a substantial amount of space.
Another heretofore unsolved problem which arises in connection with the conveying and storage of pills is that such relatively brittle products cannot be stored in tall receptacles. Thus, if a receptacle contains a relatively tall column of pills, the static pressure of the upper layer or layers of pills often suffices to damage the pills in the lower layer or layers. Therefore, it is necessary to resort to a relatively large number of relatively low but wide receptacles which occupy a substantial amount of floor space. Moreover, it is often less convenient to evacuate pills from relatively short containers which have top walls rather close to the floor level.